However, strength was found to be important in explaining a considerable part of the variance in STS performance, as indicated by the three strength measures being included in the final regression model. Quadriceps strength had the highest beta weight. This is consistent with the findings of Schenkman and colleagues
(
9
)
, who found that strength was relatively more important than balance in predicting the time to stand once in functionally impaired older people. The independent contributions from the knee extensor, knee flexor, and ankle dorsiflexor flexor muscle groups indicate that all these muscle groups play roles in this test that involves both rising and lowering components
(
3
)
.

It has previously been found that, in addition to detecting hazards in the environment, vision plays an important role in judging distances
(
26
)
and maintaining stability when standing
(
23
)
, leaning
(
24
)
, and stepping
(
30
)
. Thus, it appears that good vision (in particular good contrast sensitivity and depth perception) provides an additional cue for safely and quickly undertaking the STS test. Two complementary sensory measures, lower limb proprioception and tactile sensitivity, were also found to augment STS performance. With respect to other measures, ability to react quickly and maintain balance control assisted in the carrying out of this task, as it is timed and requires rapid and coordinated balance transfers. The inclusion of both reaction time and “challenged” balance measures as predictors of STS performance is consistent with previous work that has shown that these factors are important in another whole body transfer task that requires fast and appropriate stepping responses
(
30
)
.

Anxiety, vitality, and pain were also associated with STS performance. The independent contribution of psychological factors in explaining variance in STS times suggests that subject motivation and apprehension affect test performance. In a related study, we have found that a similar measure to vitality (i.e., positive affect) was an independent and significant predictor of another performance test—6-minute walking distance
(
18
)
. In older people, chronic pain is common, with 18% of the current study population stating that pain interfered at least moderately with their activities in the past month. The inclusion of pain in the final regression model suggests that this factor has an independent effect on STS performance over and above the other physiological and psychological measures.

Interestingly, body weight was an independent predictor of STS times, as the strength measures were normalized for this measure. This indicates that more work is required to raise and lower heavier bodies than is explained by the simple correction of strength to weight. In contrast, STS performance was not significantly associated with height or gender, which indicates that the test chair height was not an impediment to either shorter or taller people and that adjusting chair height for standing height appears unwarranted for tests of STS performance in older people. The bivariate association between STS performance and age was weak, and age could not account for any variance over and above that provided by the sensorimotor and balance measures in the multiple regression model.

Types of Positioning Strategies

There are several types of positioning strategies. A few examples are positioning by:

A Perceptual Map in Market Positioning

A perceptual map is used to show consumer perception of certain brands. The map allows you to identify how competitors are positioned relative to you and identify opportunities in the
marketplace
.

For example, consumers perception of price and quality of brands in the automobile industry are mapped below:

How to Create an Effective Market Positioning Strategy?

Create a positioning statement that will serve to identify your business and how you want the brand to be perceived by consumers.

For example, the positioning statement of Volvo: “For upscale American families, Volvo is the family automobile that offers maximum safety.”

1. Determine company uniqueness by comparing to competitors

Compare and contrast differences between your company and competitors to identify opportunities. Focus on your strengths and how it can exploit these opportunities.

2. Identify current market position

Identify your existing market position and how the new positioning will be beneficial in setting you apart from competitors.

3. Competitor positioning analysis

Identify the conditions of the marketplace and the amount of influence each competitor can place on each other.

4. Develop a positioning strategy

Through the preceding steps, you should achieve an understanding of what your company is, how your company is different from competitors, the conditions of the marketplace, opportunities in the marketplace, and how your company can position itself.

What is Market Repositioning?

Market repositioning is when a company changes its existing brand or product status in the marketplace. Repositioning is usually done due to declining performance or major shifts in the environment.

Many companies, instead of repositioning, choose to launch a new product or brand because of the high cost and effort required to successfully reposition a brand or product.

Example of Market Repositioning

The
Coca-Cola Company
launched Mother Energy Drinks in 2006 into the Australian market. The launch campaign was professionally executed, and Coca-Cola was able to leverage its distribution channels to get the product in major retailers. However, the taste of Mother Energy Drink was subpar and repeat purchases were very low. Coca-Cola was faced with a decision: to improve and reposition the product or withdraw it and introduce a new brand and product. The company ultimately decided to reposition the product due to an already high brand awareness. The biggest challenge faced by Coca-Cola was to persuade consumers to try the product again. The company changed the packaging, increased the size of the can, and improved the taste of the product. The relaunch of the product featured a new phrase – “New Mother, tastes nothing like the old one.” Ultimately, Coca-Cola was able to successfully reposition Mother Energy Drinks and the brand today competes with the two leading energy drinks in the market – V and Red Bull.

The cir­cles rep­re­sent com­pa­nies with an area pro­por­cional to the num­ber of politi­cians that passed through that com­pany dur­ing 1975-2013. That way, big­ger cir­cles rep­re­sent com­pa­nies with more politi­cians.

In ad­di­tion to vi­su­al­ize every re­la­tion in this ecosys­tem si­mul­ta­ne­ously, it is also pos­si­ble to ex­plore more spe­cific views.

By click­ing on a com­pany, one can iso­late its ecosys­tem, dis­play­ing only the politi­cians that had a po­si­tion at that com­pany and also dis­play­ing other com­pa­nies that had the same politi­cians or­bit­ing around the se­lected com­pany.

By click­ing on a politi­cian one can vi­su­al­ize his path be­tween com­pa­nies, as well as get ac­cess to his po­si­tions in gov­ern­ments and re­spec­tive po­lit­i­cal af­fil­i­a­tions.